The Indigenous Project Foundation
Before we build technology or reclaim the land, we must first rebuild the spirit. We combine the deep, healing wisdom of our Elders with the power of modern innovation to create lasting pathways for our communities to thrive.
Lives Changed
Individuals who have walked through our programs, finding not just employment, but cultural reconnection and profound mental wellness.
Communities Served
First Nations communities across Treaty 6 and beyond, connected through shared knowledge, ceremony, and economic strength.
Trees Rooted
Our starting capacity per season to physically heal the earth, planting native species back into the soil of our ancestors.
Finding Purpose
Our employment success rate. Because when you heal the person first, the professional follows naturally.
Welcome to Koda-Tree Village.
A place where Indigenous people reconnect with culture, mental wellness, employment, and the land. Nestled on 160 protected acres, this is not a corporate camp. It is a living, breathing community. It is where the drum beats, where the elders speak, and where the land is restored by the very hands that belong to it.
Strong People. Strong Families. Strong Communities. Guided by Elder Jean Whiteknife, cohorts live on-site in our cabins and Main Hall — training for heavy industry while prioritizing deep mental health support, ceremony, and shared meals. Support. Learn. Heal. Thrive.
From a nursery-ready barn, a natural creek, and 65 acres of prime growing land, we are raising 100,000 seedlings a season — the next generation of forests to reclaim industrial lands. Healing the earth, healing ourselves.
Through our partnership with Project Forest, the Koda-Tree Village land is being placed under the Foundation's permanent stewardship. It can never be commercially sold — a community asset protected for the generations who will inherit it.
"When our students put their hands in the soil here, you can literally see the weight of generations lift off their shoulders."
The day begins in ceremony. Smudge, prayer, and the teachings of Elder Jean — before a single machine starts, the spirit is cared for first.
Students plant seedlings in the nursery and train on the equipment that will restore industrial lands — learning skills that lead to real, paid work.
Everyone eats together in the Main Hall. Laughter, stories, second helpings. For many, it is the first time in years that a meal has felt like home.
Evenings are for healing — circle, counsel with our on-site wellness worker, coursework, or simply sitting by the fire under Treaty 6 skies, planning what comes next.
This is what we are building — a rhythm of ceremony, work, food, and healing that carries our people from survival to purpose.
Massey Whiteknife
Founder & Visionary
Massey’s story is one of profound resilience. As a Two-Spirit entrepreneur, advocate, and visionary, Massey has shattered ceilings in heavy industry, technology, and media. The creation of this Foundation isn't just a business venture—it is the culmination of a life dedicated to lifting up Indigenous communities, creating safe spaces for youth, and proving that Indigenous excellence belongs on the world stage.
Started in the oil sands at 16 — built ICEIS Safety from a $10,000 startup into a $20M company.
Star of APTN's "Queen of the Oil Patch" — featured on CTV, CBC, and ET Canada.
Addressed the Dalai Lama. Indspire Youth Award laureate. Canadian Two-Spirit Ambassador.
Board of Directors, Canadian Council for Indigenous Business — Risk Management Committee. Founders 2.0 Entrepreneurial Excellence Award.
Founded the Indigenous Project Foundation — to give everything he built back to the land and the people it came from.
You cannot build a future without honoring the past. Elder Jean Whiteknife is the spiritual anchor of the Foundation. She ensures that every program, from dozer training to AI development, is grounded in ceremony, respect, and deep mental health support. Her laughter fills the Main Hall, her guidance steers our youth, and her presence is the reason our students leave Koda-Tree Village whole.
"Technology and industry are just tools. It is the spirit of our people, the teachings of the drum, and the laughter of our children that truly sustain us."
Jean Whiteknife
Elder & Cultural Guide
The Foundation is governed by four Indigenous directors — Elder wisdom, youth voice, and community accountability on one board. Every decision is tested against a single question: what does this look like for those who will inherit it?
Massey Whiteknife
Founder & Executive Director
Mikisew Cree First Nation. 25+ years in oil sands and industrial safety, CCIB board member, and the vision behind the Foundation.
Jean Whiteknife
Elder Director
Cultural authority. Ensures every decision is grounded in Indigenous values, community protocol, and intergenerational responsibility.
Gail Hannifan
Community Director
Accountability to the communities we serve. Brings organizational experience, community relationships, and program oversight.
Sierra McCray
Youth Director
The voice of the next generation — ensuring the Foundation's decisions reflect the future of Indigenous youth.
For too long, our data has been owned by others. IPF supports the development of Indigenous-owned technology — including the Sacred Fire™ and Sacred Heart™ platforms being built by Heyoka Tech — to return data sovereignty, safety records, and environmental stewardship back to Indigenous hands.
A platform that protects our workforce. Tracking real-time safety, ESG compliance, and ensuring our people are treated with dignity and respect across all industrial sites.
An edge-processing system designed for the remote realities of Treaty 6 territory, ensuring we can monitor and protect our lands and carbon data, even entirely offline.
Massey changed my life and the Holistic Program gave me a better home and family.
Program Graduate
Koda-Cree Holistic Skilled Labour Program
I am now a 3rd year scaffolder with full-time work and a new car.
Program Graduate
Koda-Cree Holistic Skilled Labour Program
I love learning about my culture and giving back to Mother Earth. Thank you IPF for all the teachings.
Community Participant
Indigenous Project Foundation
IPF supports organizations and programs that share our commitment to Indigenous land stewardship, employment readiness, and community healing. These are the relationships that make Koda-Tree Village possible.
Field Operations & Silviculture
IPF supports established reforestation and reclamation operators who share our commitment to Indigenous employment and land restoration. These partnerships bring the field capacity, professional forestry expertise, and operational experience to make Koda-Tree Village work on the ground — and give Indigenous workers a path from training to paid employment from Day 1.
Land Stewardship & Grant Access
IPF supports nonprofit reforestation organizations working to restore Alberta's land and create Indigenous employment in the forestry sector. When an Indigenous-led foundation and a reforestation nonprofit work together, they open doors to funding streams and grant programs that neither could access alone — and the land benefits from both.
Workforce Development & Employment Readiness
IPF supports the delivery of Koda-Cree's Holistic Skilled Labour Program — a trauma-informed, certification-based employment readiness pipeline serving Indigenous communities across Alberta. At Koda-Tree Village, this program is adapted for reforestation and reclamation work, giving participants the certifications, the healing, and the employment they need to build a life rooted in the land.
True sovereignty requires economic independence. Alberta faces a $57 billion land reclamation mandate that has barely begun to be deployed — and no one is better positioned to do that work than the people the land belongs to. We work with government and industry partners to fund the programs that bring our people home to the land.
The Foundation holds land permanently in Indigenous hands — the base from which restoration, training, and community prosperity grow.
Trauma-informed training, cultural reconnection, and paid employment from Day 1 — delivered with our partners, so healing and work grow together.
Reforestation, reclamation, and nursery operations that return Indigenous hands to Indigenous lands — at the scale industry and government need.